The present invention relates to a lifting device capable of being acted upon by a flowable medium, and in particular to a hydraulically or pneumatically actuated lifting device. In this case the invention is described, in particular, with reference to a lifting platform for the lifting of motor vehicles, but it is pointed out that the apparatus according to the invention can also be used for other lifting apparatus or even lifting apparatus for articles other than motor vehicles.
Lifting platforms of this type have long been known from the prior art. In this case, a distinction is made, in particular, between underfloor lifting platforms and overfloor lifting platforms. In the case of overfloor lifting platforms substantially the entire lifting mechanism is arranged above the floor level. This means that if relatively great lifting heights have to be overcome, suitable lifting stamps for example have to be relatively long in order to reach these lifting heights. In this way, the structural space will as a rule also turn out to be relatively large in a vertical direction.
The object of the present invention is therefore to reduce the structural space of lifting devices of this type, in particular in a vertical direction.